IC contact for lastvoyages

[cactusy]

[If I don't have an active post up, feel free to use this post to have your character call, videochat, text, or knock on Shaw's door.]

Comments

[ukan]

Actually Malcolm thinks Jedao will try to be fair. He didn't mention anything about Jedao even knowing you before all this. His concern is that Jedao misinterprets a lot of what Malcolm says and does, and that's a valid concern to have about a mediator.

[cactusy]

it's a valid concern to have about an advocate. but if someone who's helping you learn to express yourself better misinterprets you, it gives you a concrete example of what you need to work on. Kiryu misunderstood both of us sometimes. we worked through it. that's what this whole thing is about, Lark.

[ukan]

It can, and often does, lead to taking sides, Shaw.

[cactusy]

it didn't with him. he was fair. i think Jedao will be too, and it sounds like Malcolm agrees.

[ukan]

I hope so.

[cactusy]

like i said. i get that you want to help your friend. and this is the friendship redemption Barge where everyone thinks everyone can be solved with friendship, all the time.

but sometimes, we need something else.

[ukan]

You really don't get that I want to help you too, do you?

[cactusy]

i think you'd consider that a nice bonus, but i know i'm not your priority. and i don't need to be.

[ukan]

Will Graham is my priority. That means making sure you're looked after, too.

[cactusy]

fair enough

which means i understand your reasons but this is still a really bad idea

2/2

[cactusy]

wait no

it's not actually a bad idea, it's just an idea with different goals and a different end result.

there are times when i've had people speak for me because i knew i'd suck at doing it myself

i'm not opposed to it under all circumstances

but it wasn't what we were doing with Kiryu. remembering what Kiryu was trying to teach me stopped me from calling your idea bad just now and leaving it at that. that has value too, doesn't it?

Re: 2/2

[ukan]

I was just about to write this whole conversation off and move on so yeah, I'd say it does.

[cactusy]

and i don't want you to write me off. you're too good a patrol partner for that.

[ukan]

You just like me for my nose.

the morning after the daemon breach

[themostfun]

[ When she wakes up with her arms around Sameen, Samantha feels a flutter of euphoria in her chest, and a deep tug of despair when she remembers what she did. Except she didn't... do anything. This is their loft bed. Beyond the window is the endless expanse of interdimensional space. Shaw is safe here. Root is safe here and has a future ahead of her once she graduates. She's not the one who was held captive. It's... not that much better than Artesia, is it? They should camp out under the stars more. Out in the desert, where Sameen goes to clear her head, so it's not as if it's weird for her to be making trips out there.

Well. Whoever they really are right now, Root puts off thinking about it, puts off acknowledging the weirdness of remembering a breach, and hugs Shaw tighter. This is what matters most. The two of them, together, ready to take down evil. ]

[cactusy]

[It's the squeeze that wakes her up, though it happens slowly: she drifts out of sleep leisurely enough that her eyelids flutter a few times before she's fully aware of where she is and what's going on.

The first thing she does is extricate a hand and reach for the window, pushing aside the gauzy curtains to peer out at the stars.]

[themostfun]

[ Don't extricate limbs :( ...okay yes fine, do, but only limbs! ]

Good morning, sweetie. [ She pulls up a little closer against Shaw's back, breathing in the scent of her. ] You hungry?

[cactusy]

Not really.

[Without rolling over, she reaches back and feels around until she finds Root's head, carding her fingers through her hair.

Root, what the hell did they do to you in there?

[themostfun]

[ She nestles closer, half her face hidden by Shaw's hair. If anyone can tell she did this in part to hide the way the question made her shudder, it's Shaw. ]

Torture, basically.

[ Is that going to be enough of an answer? Because, even though it didn't really happen, it... kind of did, didn't it? She misses Rolf. Her tiny friend, always around to talk to. She misses Hadayat, graceful and sleek, silent and alert. ]

A few days after the Texas Balloon Launch Breach, audio

[empathicfault]

Hi, Shaw. I'm still waking up, but I'm out of my coma. Didn't mean to drop on you like that. You make it through the Breach okay?

[cactusy]

Yeah, I gathered that part.

[She rolls over so that she can look Root in the eye.]

You wanna talk about it, or leave it alone?

[cactusy]

I was due for a coma this month, but I never had one. I think...

[She pauses, and when she speaks again, the thoughtful frown is audible in her voice.]

I think I gave you my coma, Will.

[empathicfault]

[ There's a long pause before a confused half-chuckle comes over the line. ]

I...uh. I don't think it works like that. Right?

-besides, isn't it weird that you were having them regularly in the first place?

[themostfun]

[ Root doesn't avert her gaze. ]

Will it upset you if I do?

[cactusy]

Isn't it weird that the one time I go off-schedule, you go on schedule?